interactive.wxxi.org

Bill Frissell
The 2007 Rochester International Jazz Fest had moments that still resonate. Times I actually remember thinking how glad I was to be right there, right then, listening.

It's not a stretch in any way to link Lucinda Williams, Bob Dylan, and Hank Williams, other than Bob has a different last name. Two of the finest, if not the finest songwriters to grace our culture, and one not far behind, slightly more hidden, just as emotionally rich, and from a female perspective.

downchild bluesWord was out The Downchild Blues Band had inspired the creation of a well know blues act featured on Saturday Night Live, and later of hollywood fame. The Blues Brothers eventually had enough credibility to share the screen with the likes of Aretha Franklin and Cab Calloway.

I'm not sure Downchild ever got billing with the stars, but they did make it to High Fidelity for the jazz fest this year, and it was actually a lot of fun.

Kevin BreitBeginning with the final show, the final song, of the 2008 Rochester International Jazz Fest, I'll be revisiting some of the more curious and memorable performances from this year's festival. Along the way I'll mix in shows from the 2007 RIJF, as well.

In each of the past three years one of my highlights has been ensembles with at least one member in common, Kevin Breit. Last year with Sisters Euclid, he closed out the festival with a riveting instrumental cover of a Neil Young composition.

Well, the seventh edition of the Rochester International Jazz Festival is history, and it turned out OK. I was one of many who was underwhelmed by the list of headliners but, as always, there was plenty of great music to enjoy. So now what about next year? I think they ought to set up a big interactive voting thing on the website, so everyone in the community could weigh in. But I also imagine they probably get tired of hearing people ask, "Why don't you book so-and-so?" Even so...

Marc Iacona and John Nugent put out their open hands, palms down, and with heads bowed, raised and lowered their arms to each other. But the real praise on stage last night at the Eastman Theater was for God and the gift he gave Al Green.

I finally made it to the Rochester International Jazz Festival last night.

It was cloudy and chilly. A few hundred people milled around Gibbs Street, and most wore jackets or sweatshirts. Smoke from vendors’ booths drifted down past Eastman Theatre, and a line snaked around the corner for David Murray's Black Saint Quartet in Kilbourn Hall. The sight of the crowds made me happy.

Julia Figueras told me first. Then I heard it from Dave Sluberski, WXXI's audio engineer. The Bad Plus brought a singer with them for their Rochester International Jazz Festival appearance. A singer?! I admit I was skeptical. The trio works so well on their own, a singer could only get in the way, I thought.

In his introduction, Jack Garner noted the irony of having a band from Finland perform in the hottest venue at the festival – hot temperature-wise, that is. The Lutheran Church of the Reformation was sweltering last night as the Timo Lassy Band took the stage, or the altar. They began with African Rumble and Early Move, tunes I featured on What’s New a few weeks back.

Nat Hentoff is stalking me.

First I saw his American Legacy article on women in jazz.

Then he pops up in this Lenny Bruce book I've been reading, “How to Talk Dirty and Influence People: An Autobiography.” While on the stand at the comedian’s obscenity trial, Ralph Gleason reads an excerpt from one of Nat’s articles about Lenny.

During the Jazz Festival last year, a secret society formed here at WXXI. In order to join, you had to be a little bit sick of hearing about the Jazz Festival. It was a small group, to be sure, and I cannot reveal the participants. I think they bonded in part because they felt left out of the daily who-did-you-see-last-night-and-who-are-you-seeing-tonight conversations. Their question of the day was more like “What is the big deal?”